I've finished the Haemonculus and while I'm waiting for the varnish to dry, I started assembling the plastic Contemptor Dreadnought from Betrayal at Calth. No, I won't paint the whole set or delve deeper into the Horus Heresy, but I got myself the Contemptor to add to my post-heresy Blood Angels army.

This model is pretty strange. The posability is pretty limited and the arms aren't compatible with FW's Contemptor arms, you've probably all seen the Calth sprues by now. There are very visible seams all over the leg armour that need to be filled. Also the shoulder armour of the assault cannon arm has a trim like the left arm, while the multi-melta arm has not (see picture). I guess I have to chop up both arms to fix this.

I guess this specific Relic style Dreadnought won't be sold seperately and will only be available in the Calth box set, like the character models. Maybe we'll see a fully articulated plastic Contemptor kit someday, but I guess they'll choose a more basic Contemptor design then. What do you think? Are you into Betrayal at Calth as well?

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14 comments:

I've also built my first contemptor this weekend and I'm just waiting on my heavy conversion beamer from forgeworld to attach to it. They are compatible with a little bit of chopping but it would have been better if they could actually have made it fully posable/compatible. Loving the Heresy plastics and have rekindled my flagging interest in 40k as i'll be doing a heresy era Imperial Fists army for use in 40k

Yup not a massive fan of the contemptor at the best of times, but i really dislike the plastic ones, the legs look terrible in my opinion and to be brutally honest i think it looks like a recasters knock off of the FW one. I dont get why they would take such a backwards step of fixed leg positions, even the old metal dreads offered more poseablity with some crafty wedges cut out of the back of the knee. My guess was that it was to simplify the building for little johnny, but if that was the case why make all the other mini's multipart posable in the box instead of snapfit? The other reason i can think of is that they didnt want to kill sales of FW kit, so make the arms not fit without modding, and let the people who have spent as much as the box set on one mini cling onto a sense of superiority by having a nicer posed dread??, i dunno its GW who can say for sure!

That said i really like the look of the leviathan dread FW released the other week, and may well have to get one for my BA's

I think the author was stating that they are not compatible out of the box, which is fair point to make as there has been a lot of chatter about people making hybrid plastic and resin contemptors, not that he has the inability to make them fit.

While I agree about the strange and pidgeon-toed pose, I still love the fact that they included a plastic Contemptor in the box. What's more, the model can be made quite a bit more interesting with a bit of careful cutting: Separate the torso from the legs to allow for a more dynamic pose and cut off the right leg from the pelvis area, then reattach it at a slightly different angle for a more stable, imposing stance. That's what I've done with my own plastic Contempor, and it has improved the model quite a bit. The fun about plastic models like this is finding out how to bring them closer to their more expensive multi-part kin with a bit of work ;)

Honestly, I'm quite disappointed with this Contemptor as well. I was hoping to be able to mix in some of my FW parts, but as you said, they don't actually line up/fit. There was just zero cause of them to make the thing so static. Granted, it's easily cut apart and reposed, but we shouldn't have to make that effort. It reminds me greatly of the Knight kit - so much potential pissed down the drain.

It doesn't even get the dignity of looking like a recaster's knock off, most recasters take more pride in their work and deliver a better product.

On the bright side, with your disgustingly high talent levels, you could make a molten plastic dog turd into something amazing.

I look at the Contemptor as a bonus in the box, much like the single pose character models. The Terminators are a bit lackluster as well. However, the Tactical squads are worth the initial cost of the box, and while I would have liked a little more variation in chest armor, helmets/heads, and shoulder pads, they'll fit in with the rest of the SM range nicely.The Contemptor will likely join the Assault on Black Reach Dreadnought in a box of obscurity. Its weapon arms, however, might prove more useful in conversion work.

Hi Stahly, I'm a huge fan of your work! I am living in Hamburg as well, and talked about your amazing work to the GW team of both retails, but none did knew about you. I thought you will be presenting some of your job during the "Army on Parade" event.As a foreigner in Hamburg, I struggle to find painters to share their skills and give some advices. I don't know if you are offering some trainings or if you are part of a club.I am renewing my eldar army, and I will gladly get some advices from such a skilled painter!

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